A Willful Heart is a Hardened One

When someone is flattered and willful it is easy to pull the wool over their eyes.
Flattery disarms and willfulness blinds.
Proverbs 26:24-28 "Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him... who starts it rolling. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin."

1 Samuel 15:23a
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry."

Nehemiah 9:16,17a,26a
"[Nehemiah recounted the rebellions of his forebears:] But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to Thy commandments, 17a And refused to obey, neither were mindful of Thy wonders that Thou didst among them; but hardened their necks. … 26a Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their backs."

Isaiah 30:1
"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of Me … that they may add sin to sin."

Jeremiah 32:33
"And they have turned unto Me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction."

Acts 7:51-3,57,59a
"[The rebellious religionists rallied and thought they could silence Stephen by killing him, after he exposed them by telling them:] Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of Whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, … 59a And they stoned Stephen."

Pulling Scripture out of Context

There are so many who use Scripture to appear superior while defaming God. Lying against the truth of God is a very serious matter.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206598725619551&set=a.1147903210470.2023768.1014256776&type=3&theater

Boldly Rebellious

Things are getting worse all the time. Even many of those we thought were level headed are regressing in decency it seems.

Perhaps the devil is on the prowl and those who are pretenders are not going to be able to continue their pretense, while the devil works to twist their minds, they are being exposed frequently. The devil not only wants to destroy the born again believers, he also wants to destroy those he uses as pawns, those that already belong to him.

1 Peter 5:8 "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

The devil is using helpless pretenders to carry out his vile deeds against believers. Those who are not born again have no defenses against the wiles of the devil, they are pawns in his hands. The targets of Satan's calamities are born again believers, those he hates as much as he hates God.

Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Pretense is hard work, it is only worth doing if it gains the pretender something. In our present day, the wicked man is elevated while the righteous one is denigrated, allowing those who used to hide, the audacity to fearlessly proclaim and defend their evil openly.

What the pretenders used to hide because there was pressure from the culture to live decently, are now finding their freedom to demonstrate the evil that is within their heart, boldly and without conscience in a very public way.

Jeremiah 6:15 ""Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD."

Understanding all this makes it easier to obey God, in our responses. When we are not sure of what we see, we tend to back off from boldness, even questioning our own decisions, giving the devil more power over us.

God gave us many passages describing what is going to happen in the end of day, while at the same time providing guidance as to the actions that must be taken to disarm the devil. The tactics of the devil are many, if we know what they are, we can protect ourselves from becoming like the culture around us. (Refer to 2 Timothy 3)

One of the tactics of the devil is to cause us to feel rejected if we don't fit into the thinking and activities of the mainstream culture. When we walk a different path from the rest of society, it automatically puts us on the outs with most everyone else around us.

The devil also likes to cause guilt in us for making others angry when we choose not to follow the mob. There is an interesting phenomena, when we walk our own path based on our desires to obey God, the mob will become angry while onlookers think we must have done something wrong to cause the anger.

Satan works by diverting our attention from truth through activity often useless activity, he attempts to discourage us, he causes division in the body while bringing in deception to confuse.
Often he prevents clear communication that would resolve matters between brethren. His most used tactic is that of flattery, building pride in those who are not seeking Christ. If he can get people to focus on self, personal gratification, and worldly accomplishment, he can control those who are in bondage to pleasure.

Nearly every day now we see those around us using these tactics to thwart the work of God and to undermine the walk of the believer in Christ. The most used and often most effective maneuver is intimidation, causing fear that we have done something wrong or fear that people won't like us. If I had to name the one most effective scheme used today against believers it would be that of manipulative intimidation.

I am convinced that our culture has reached the point it has, that being terrified of being seen as mean spirited or evil, because believers have remained silent when they should have spoken, lacking courage, unwilling to be criticized for standing for righteousness, they have remained pleasant, challenging nothing, with friends and family, maintaining their status in the community while compromising God's principles and commands.

Anyone here on facebook who has brought truth uncompromised will testify to the personal attacks one encounters for their faithfulness to God's truths.

Deuteronomy 5:32-33 ""So you shall observe to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. "You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess."

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ""Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD'S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?"

Deuteronomy 7:9 ""Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;"

Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;"

2 Timothy 3:12 "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,"

John 15:18 "“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you."

1 Peter 4:12-14 "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you."

 1 Peter 3:14 "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,"

Raising Children in the Lord

Have you wondered why so many of our adult children in this age show a great deal of disrespect and dishonor at the slightest hint of correction or instruction. Many of you did your best to raise your children in the Lord, even with all your flaws, your heart was bent toward the principles of God. Continually being criticized and maligned by the culture and extended family around you for the effort, over the years there was the frustration of watching the children begin to, if not continuing all along, rejecting God's principles, perhaps even having a "form of religion" without true godliness. The children went with the culture, the ungodly teachers, the unsaved extended family and even rebellious spouses, often those who claimed to be Christian would undermine our decision to raise the children in the Lord.
 
Were you the fanatic in the family, continually mocked and demeaned because of your attempts to bring Biblical sense to the children's training? If this is your story, then you are not alone, many have encountered this. When the culture works against us, more times than not, the children will go with their culture and ungodly family to fit in, to be accepted by the mob. It is far more enticing to enjoy the acceptance of the world and all it's pleasures than to swim up stream against the current. 
 
We know that when we swim upstream, as the salmon do to lay their eggs and die, we will be battered and bruised by those who will not adhere to good Biblical principles. Most people who say they are "Christians" today, identify themselves as such, not because Christ has done a saving work in their heart, but because they follow certain cultural rules and go to church on a regular basis. Their depth of knowledge about the Bible is minimal, although some have a lot of knowledge about the Bible, they lack the wisdom to carry out what they know, their "wisdom" is tainted by the world's false wisdom.

When we resolve to raise our children in the Lord, we can expect rejection, isolation, mocking and triangulation (gossip to turn others against us). 2 Timothy 3:1-5 clearly describes what we are up against, all our best efforts to resolve matters are thwarted by those who love their sin and refuse to listen or even discuss important matters.
 
Narcissists are very often resistant to discussion because they need to feel they are in control of others, if they engage in a dialogue to discern the problem and the solution, they will not be interested because they have no control over what someone else is going to do or say. Often they refuse to dialogue, even lying to claim nothing is wrong when all their covert manipulations prove they are angry about something. It is impossible to have a quality relationship with those who will not hear and often will not respond when asked to clarify things.
 
The answer to all this mess? Pray, pray and pray more, not only for those who are rebellious, but also for our spiritual growth through it, that we not allow ourselves to be manipulated into ungodly responses, the very goal of those who are in rebellion. When we learn to observe, as the angels do, without engaging the rebellious, we can allow the Holy Spirit to be the One to speak through us. He is far more powerful than we are and knows exactly what the rebellious heart needs. Please forget all that psychology taught you that was not Biblical and read God's Word to find the answer to our responses, while relying on the Holy Spirit to take over all that we must do or say.

https://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/80-385/Parents-Do-Not-Provoke-Your-Children